Nike is on the forefront of the rise of women’s basketball.
The apparel brand has endorsement deals with top WNBA stars such as Sabrina Ionescu and is set to launch signature shoes for A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark. On top of that, Nike is also an equity investor in the WNBA.
But on Thursday night, the Nike Basketball X (formerly Twitter) account made a blunder that has made WNBA Twitter mad.
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Following Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Finals series that saw the Dallas Mavericks advance to the NBA Finals, the Nike Basketball account tweeted:
“And that’s that… a week without hoops smh.”
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That tweet referred to the week off before the NBA Finals caused by a pair of short series in the Conference Finals. However, that tweet completely disregarded the fact that the WNBA regular season is in full swing after tipping off on May 14.
The post was made even more embarrassing because Nike Basketball’s account is filled with advertisements for Wilson’s upcoming shoe, including its bio and banner photo, while its most recent tweet was promoting Ionescu’s second signature shoe.
Look at the bio and the most recent tweet pic.twitter.com/7ixCRxzC90
— Dallas Jones (@DallasJonesy) May 31, 2024
The Sabrina 2 🔥 It’s all in the details.
Dropping 6.25.
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) May 30, 2024
Nike Basketball has since deleted the tweet, but the internet always keeps tabs as many prominent WNBA social media names pointed out the company’s social media gaffe.
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DIDN’T Y’ALL JUST- https://t.co/rInjaQCOwL
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) May 31, 2024
R u sure tho https://t.co/hTpqAqgsFP pic.twitter.com/aTLzdqU7J8
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) May 31, 2024
Under Armour Basketball did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation, mocking the Nike Basketball blunder with its own tweet.
And that’s that…another week WITH hoops 😉
— Under Armour Basketball (@UAbasketball) May 31, 2024
Under Armour endorses some of the league’s top players as well such as Kelsey Plum and Marina Mabrey, so it even added created a thread to post dates of when its players are set to play throughout the week.
Our @Wnba sqUAd in action this upcoming week, a thread 🧵
— Under Armour Basketball (@UAbasketball) May 31, 2024
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